Apparatus and method for construction of multistoried buildings



. A. LEYTEN EFAL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR GONSTRUC 3,524,293 TION OFAug. 18, 1970 Filed July 5, 1968 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONSTRUCTIONOF- MULTISTORIED BUILDINGS Filed July 5, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 W? W WW5,g m; a WLV. M Y m k 2% a M a Y m B s f Aug. 18, 1970 Filed July 5. 1968A; LEYTEN E L APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONSTRUCTION OF MULTISTORIEDBUILDINGS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Aug. 18', 1970 T N ETAL APPARATUS AND METHODFOR CONSTRUCTION OF 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 MULTISTORIED BUILDINGS Filed July3, 1968 United States Patent 3,524,293 APPARATUS AND METHOD FORCONSTRUCTION OF MULTISTORED BUILDHVGS Adriaan Leyten and Dirk K.Verburgh, Rotterdam, Netherlands, assignors to J. P. van EesterensAdministratie Maatschappij N.V., Rotterdam, Netherlands, alimitedliability corporation of Netherlands Continuation-in-part ofapplications Ser. No. 472,872 and Ser. No. 472,876, July 19, 1965. Thisapplication July 3-, 1968, Ser. No. 742,381

Int. Cl. E04h 1/04; E04!) 1/04; E04g 11/00 US. Cl. 52741 6 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of building construction in which amonolithic structure formed through the application of the sequentialsteps of forming a floor of reenforced concrete; forming loadbearingwalls of reenforced concrete upon said floor through the usage of smoothsteel molds; providing prefabricated structures for use in each celldefined by the load-bearing walls which is comprised of non-load-bearingpartitions within each cell-like unit; placing the prefabricatedstructure into each cell-like unit; forming ceilings of reenforcedconcrete above the prefabricated structures which are supported byloadbearing reenforced concrete walls; and sealing the open gable endsof each cell-like unit by means of prefabricated gable walls. The methodemploys apparatus including spacer elements which are fixed with regardto desired floor and ceiling dimensions and are integrally molded intothe load-bearing walls and ceilings of the structure. The guide elementsreceive and support spacer elements which, in turn, position and supportmolds whose highly accurate alignment is assured through the use of thespacer elements. Upon setting of the concrete the molds may easily beremoved and the method steps may then be repeated.

The present invention relates to buildings and the like and moreparticularly to a novel method and apparatus for simplified constructionof multistoried buildings at substantially reduced costs and is acontinuation-in-part of copending applications Ser. No. 47Q,872, nowabandoned entitled Method For Industrial House Building and Ser. No.472,876, now abandoned entitled A Method of Building both filed July 19,1965 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

The method of erecting buildings is known in which building units areassembled from a plurality of elements which are all self-supporting andwhich, after assembly, form a complete building. The prefabricatedelements are normally produced in a factory and delivered to the jobsite. Such elements are usually quite large and due to their size arenormally very heavy. In view of the size and Weight of the units shippedto the job site, difiiculties in,

transportation and erection are experienced. Furthermore, insulation,particularly on the exterior of building erections becomes difficult andthe problem of efiicient insulation in such conventional structures hasnot yet been satisfactorily solved. in addition to the above,subdivision of an erected building is achieved during erection andnormally cannot be altered during construction or at any time aftercompletion thereof. In view of this fact, it is not possible to build insuch a manner that alteration of the internal structure may beundertaken when desired.

There exists some conventional techniques in which housing units aremade at the job site in a series fashion with the aid of molds employedfor casting the concrete. These techniques have the disadvantages ofrequiring ice separate adjustment for each of the molds because failureto provide such separate adjustment may result in floors which are nothorizontally aligned and therefore great dimensional deviations arise inthe construction of the building. Suitable adjustments to compensate forthese deviations require much time and cause great delay in constructionwhich is undesirable for economic and other reasons.

The present invention is characterized by providing a novel method andapparatus for constructing buildings and the like and especially for theconstruction of multistoried industrial buildings such as apartments inwhich construction steps are greatly simplified and in which a highdegree of accuracy is maintained throughout the construction job.

The apparatus of the present invention is comprised of a plurality ofsubstantially cross-shaped spacer elements which are cast into thefoundation of the structure and are located in accordance with theload-bearing concrete walls to be erected. The foundation may be erectedin conventional fashion and is normally constructed of reenforcedconcrete. The spacer elements are designed to receive and support thefastening means of guide elements which position and support stationaryportions of mold members. The dimensions of the mold membersautomatically locate the spacer elements employed for the next abovefloor, thereby eliminate the necessity for additional measurementoperations. The molds are then moved into position to define the widthand alignment of each wall, and then the concrete is poured into theinterior region defined by the molds. Once the concrete is setsufficiently to support itself, the molds may be moved away from theoperative position so that their stationary portions may be lifted awayfrom the guide elements, allowing the molds to be employed in subsequentoperations through repetition of the above recited steps. Obviously, themolds may be employed in a similar fashion to form floors. The spacerelements automatically fix the dimensions of each cell defined byfloors, ceilings and walls and further prevent the possibility of anyadjacent floor sections separated by a wall from being of unequal heightand further prevents offsetting of adjacent upper and lower story wallsections separated by a floor from being offset relative to one another.

It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a novelmethod and apparatus for the high-speed, low-cost construction ofmultistory buildings constructed of reenforced concrete at a job sitewherein a minimum of precast concrete components are employed tofacilitate transportation, handling and construction operations.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel method andapparatus for forming multistoried industrial buildings and the like ata job site employing precast spacer members which, after once beingprecisely set within the foundation eliminate the needs for separateadjustment of spacer elements and molds for each succeeding floor.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novelmethod and apparatus for forming multistoried industrial buildings andthe like of prestress concrete directly at the job site wherein novelspacer elements, guide elements and molds are employed for reducing theprecision arrangement of building components to a minimum after havingonce precisely located guide elements upon the building foundation.

These as well as other objects of the present invention will becomeapparent when reading the accompanying description and drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the construction of a multistoriedbuilding in various stages of completion and employing the novel methodsand appparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a multistoried industrial buildingconstructed in accordance with the principles of the present inventionshowing the manner in which prefabricated non-load-bearing sections arepositioned within cells of the building.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view showing the manner in which the spacerelements, guide elements and molds are arranged for the purpose offorming a wall of the building.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a portion of the spacer elementsand guide elements in greater detail.

FIGS. Sa-Sd are elevational views employed for the purpose of explainingin step-like fashion the manner in which the walls and floors of abuilding of the type shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. may be constructed inaccordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIGS. 6a-6c are elevational views indicating three deviations in floorand wall alignments which may occur through the use of conventionaltechniques employed in the construction of buildings.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view showing one preferred form of adjustablemolds which may be employed in the formation of the wall of a buildingwhich may be of the type shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring now to the drawings and more specifically to FIGS. 3 and 4, aplurality of guide elements 10 are set within the foundation of thestructure and are precisely located so as to be arranged at the samehorizontal level. the element 10 shown in FIG. 1) as well as beingprecisely located so a to be arranged at the same horizontal level. Theelemnt 1 in FIG. 2 may be considered to indicate either the foundationof the structure or a lower floor. Only one element 10 is shown in FIG.1, it being understood that a plurality of such elements arranged atspaced intervals in the manner shown in FIG. 1 may be employed dependingupon the length of the wall section to be constructed.

The spacer elements 10 are formed of precast concrete and are comprisedof a pair of vertical legs 12 and 12a and a pair of horizontal legs 13and 13a which all extend from a central portion thereof to define thecross-shaped configuration. The vertical legs 12 and 12a are each provided with openings 12b and 120, respectively, for receiving fasteningmembers 3 to secure guide elements thereto in a manner to be more fullydescribed.

After having set the spacer elements in a manner shown best in FIG. 1 inthe foundation of the building (or in a lower floor, as hte case may be)at least one pair of elongated guide elements 2, 2 is secured to thespacer element 10 by a set bolt 3, as shown in detail in FIG. 4. Eachguide element 2 is comprised of a steel U-beam 4 having secured theretoby welding or any other operation an elongated non-equilateral steelangle 5 whose longer arm 6 has secured thereto (by welding or any othersuitable technique) a pair of elongated guide means 7 and 8 which act toaccurately position and support cooperating mold members.

The mold members which will subsequently be described in more detail areaccurately positioned within the guide means 7, 8 on opposite sides ofthese upper and lower spacer elements shown in FIG. 3 in order toreceive the poured concrete.

FIG. 1 shows such molds 14 as being secured to the spacer elements so asto be maintained in accurate alignment for the receipt of pouredconcrete. ()bviously, if prestressed concrete is to be employed, aframework of steel or other metallic rods arranged in a gridwork anddesignated by the numeral 15 in FIG. 1 may be positioned within themolds so as to provide additional reenforcement for the concrete togreatly enhance its load-bearing characteristics.

The height of the molds is chosen in a precise manner so that thespacing of the lower floor 1 from the upper floor 11 (see FIG. 3) isaccurately controlled by the molds and the spacer elements 10, 10. Thevertical legs 12 and 1 12a accurately determine the thickness of thewall 9 to be cast while the thickness of the horizontal legs 13 and 13aaccurately control the thickness of the floors to be cast.

The method steps of constructing the wall sections will now be set forthin conjunction with FIGS. 5a5d:

The foundation of the building maybe erected in more or lessconventional fashion and is normally formed of reenforced concrete. Thespacer elements 10, 10 are set into the foundation section 16, 16 at theprecise locations where the load-bearing'concrete walls are tobe'erected. Once the precise separation between adjacent spacer elementsand the horizontal levels of the spacer elements are determined, nofurther adjustments are required as a result of the apparatus employedherein.

The spacer elements, through their openings 12c, 12c accurately positionand support the guide elements 2 which are fixed upon the spacerelements by the fastening means 3 (see FIGS. 3 and 512).-

Once the spacer elements 16 have been set, the spacing between theelements both in a horizontal and a vertical direction remains fixedthroughout the structure.

Turning to FIG. 5b, the molds 14 are mounted upon the guide elements 2which serve to determine the spacing between the adjacent interior facesof the molds. The upper ends of the molds 14 may be secured to upperspacer members 10 in the manner shown best in FIG. as is schematicallyrepresented by the line 3.

Horizontally aligned mold members Mr: which have their ends connected tothe vertically aligned mold members 14 are arranged as shown in FIG. 50for the purpose of forming the mold for the next upper floor section.The spacing and horizontal alignment of the lower spacer members 10 actto maintain the floor heights, wall spacings and thicknesses of eachwall and fioor section as they are formed. FIG. 5d shows the completedsections after the concrete has been poured within the molds, has set,and the molds have been removed. The sectional view of FIG. 50! mayconstitute the first and second floors and two adjacent vertical wallsor may be considered to represent the sectional view of upper floorswithin a multistory building. The operational steps set forth above arerepeated for each floor.

FIGS. 6a-6c best illustrate the effectiveness of the spacer elements 10.For example, considering FIG. 6a in a conventional installation notemploying such spacer elements, extreme care must be exercised toprevent the left and right-hand floor sections 11 and 11 from beingoffset, resulting in a misalignment causing the floor section 11' to bepositioned lower than the floor section 11 by a deviation distance Dwhich constitutes the deviation between the desired floor levelrepresented by the horizontal dotted line and the surface of floor 11'.In a like manner, FIG. 611 indicates a deviation which may occur betweenlower and upper concrete wall sections 9 and 9' wherein the deviationdistance D represents the distance between the true and desiredalignment represented by the vertical dotted lines and the alignment ofthe vertical wall section 9'. FIG. indicates that it is possible to havemisalignment in both horizontal floor sections 11 and 11 and in verticalwall sections 9 and 9', FIG. 60 representing a composite showing of thepossible misalignments of FIGS. 6a and 6b.

FIG. 7 shows one preferred mold assembly which may be employed with thespacer elements and guide elements shown best in FIGS. 3 and 4 andrepeated in FIG. 7. Since the left and right-hand frame assembles aresubstantially identical in design and configuration only the right-handassembly will be described for purposes of simplicity.

The mold assembly is comprised of a carrier frame 20 which issubstantially a skeletonized structure provided with a lower end 2%carrying a member 22 designed to have its lower horizontal edgepositioned between the spacer guides 7 and 8 shown best in FIG. 4 forexample. It should be understood that the carrier frame 20 is actuallycomprised of a plural number of vertically aligned frames spaced bypredetermined horizontal intervals. The member 22 is actually anelongated member which is horizontally aligned so as to be positionablebetween the guide elements 7 and 8 of an elongated spacer member whichextends at least between two adjacent spacers. The elongated members 22are releasably secured to the frame sections (only one of which is shownin FIG. 7) by fastening means schematically represented by straight line23. The carrier frame is further com rised of an operating assembly 25for moving the mold assembly 21 between an inoperative and an operativeposition. The mold assembly is comprised of an elongated steel moldmember 26 whose height and width is substantially equal to at least thedistance between upper and lower guide elements 10 and 10' shown in FIG.7 and horizontally spaced guide elements whose arrangement is best shownin FIG. 1. The steel mold member 26 is secured to the oeprating assemblyof the carrier frames preferably, at least, at two positions along thelength of the steel member by means of vertically aligned frame members27 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 7) which are further spaced fromone another and secured to one another by horizontally aligned I-beams28a-28c. The frame members 27 are coupled to the operating assembly, aswill be described hereinbelow:

The operating assembly 25 is comprised of an actuating rod 29 pivotallysecured at its left-hand end at a stationary support 30 and furtherpivotally coupled intermediate its ends by a coupling pin 31 whichsecures it to a point intermediate the ends of linking rod 32. The0pposite upper and lower ends of linking rod 32 are coupled by pin means33a and 33b to eccentric rods 34 and 34a, respectively, whose left-handends are rigidly secured to shafts 35 and 35:: adapted to rotate withinsuitable openings provided within the mounted brackets 36 and 35a. Alsorigidly secured to shafts 35, 35a and 30 are a second group of eccentricrods 37a, 37b and 370, re spectively, whose left-hand ends, in turn, arepivotally mounted by suitable pin means to the mounting brackets 38a,38b and 38c, respectively.

The carrier frame, as was previously described, is transported to thedesired locale and positioned so that its elongated members 22 arealigned within the guide means 7 and 8 of guide assemblies 2. At thistime the operating arm 29 is in the dotted line position 29' bearingagainst the stop 40 provided as an integral part of the carrier frame20. The eccentric rods 37a-37c, as a result of the elignment ofoperating rod 29, have their lower ends positioned so that the pinsmounting these rods to brackets 38 occupy the position A which, forexample, indicates the location of the pin means securing eccentric rod370 to mounting bracket 380. The pins of the other mounting brackets 38aand 38b would occupy similar positions which have been omitted merelyfor purposes of simplicity. The position of these mounting bracketsmaintains the mold frame members 27 and hence the mold sheet 26 at afirst reference position designated by vertical dotted line 42. Itshould further be noted that point A indicates the height of bracket 380at the time that the operating arm 29 is in the inoperative or dottedline position 29'.

Movement of the operating arm from the dotted line position 29 to thesolid line position 29 against stop member 41 (mounted on carrier frame20) causes rotation of shaft 30 and likewise moves linking rod 6vertically downward to rotate eccentric rods 34 and 34a clockwise torotate their associated shafts 35 and 35a. The rotation of shafts 30, 35and 35a causes rotation of eccentric rods 37c, 37a and 37b causing theconnecting pin of the mounting brackets, for example, mounting bracket380 to occupy the position B indicating that the mounting brackets andhence the mold sheet 26 is displaced by a distance x toward the left aswell as being moved vertically upward by a distance y representing thehorizontal displacement between points A and B. The spacing betweenadjacent mold frame sheets 26 and 26a is further determined by thehorizontally aligned steel angle arms 44a and 44b which are providedwith notches at their lower left-hand and lower right-hand ends,respectively, to abut against the upper arm 5 and 5a of each of thespacer elements 2, thereby accurately positioning the mold sheet members26 and 26a to control the thickness of the wall to be formed. The upperend of the mold sheet forms bear against the lower vertical leg ofspacer element 10' to maintain the sheets 26 and 26a in the desiredspaced parallel fashion. The concrete is then poured within the moldframes. The forces caused by the concrete in the liquid stage are nottransmitted to the eccentric mechanism due to its arrangement therebyenabling the carrier assembly to maintain the mold sheets 26 and 26a intheir solid line positions until the concrete sets. When the pouredconcrete is stiff enough to support itself the sheets 26 and 26a may bemoved away from the concrete by movement of the operating arm 29 to itsdotted line position 29'.

The poured concrete floors can be formed in connection with the walls bymeans of providing the molding sheet element 44 which is connected tothe top of the carrier frame. This latter arrangement is of conventionalconstruction and a detailed description thereof will be omitted hereinfor purposes of simplicity.

The perspective views of FIGS. 1 and 2 show the various stages ofconstruction of a multistoried cell-like building employing the conceptsof the present invention. For example, considering FIG. 1, there isshown therein a ground floor 1 upon which a plurality of concrete wallsections 99c have been formed. In addition thereto a second floor 50 isshown as having been completed. The second floor 50, in the first stageof construction, is shown as having positioned therein at spacedintervals, the spacer elements 10. The short vertical lines arrangedbetween the upper vertical legs of the spacer elements constitute theupper ends of metallic reenforcing rods 15 which have been im'beddedwithin the concrete of the lower wall section 9c. In another stage ofconstruction the metallic reenforcing rods 15 are shown positioned abovethe vertical wall section 9b with the mold sections 14 being shown inplace in readiness for receipt of the poured concrete. The assemblyabove vertical wall 9a shows the manner in which a mold section 14 isbeing lowered into position by an overhead crane assembly 51, only aportion of which is shown for purposes of simplicity. Obviously theoverhead crane assembly may be used for both placement and removal ofthe mold sections. A finished wall section 9d with the mold sectionshaving been removed load-supporting members. The arrangement of thevertical wall section 9. This completed wall section 9d alsoincorporates the spacer elements 10 which have been integrally moldedwithin the completed wall section, are in position for formation of thenext wall section of the third story as soon as the floor sections havebeen completed.

FIG. 2 shows a similar arrangement to that of FIG. 1 wherein a pluralityof the wall sections formed on floor 50 are completed and theprefabricated non-load-bcaring structures are inserted therein.

The concrete walls on each floor such as, for example, the concretewalls 99c on the first floor, cooperate with the floors 1 and 50 todivide the building into cell-like units which may, for example, behouse units, wherein the walls, floors and ceilings shown in FIG. 2serve as the load-supporting members. The arrangement of the verticalwall shown in FIG. 2 are adapted to receive prefabricated cell dividingwalls of a non-load-bearing nature. The selfsupporting framework isbuilt up from reenforced con crete which forms a monolithicconstruction. Once the regular cell-like construction of FIG. 2 isformed, it can be seen that the gable walls are left open. The walls ofthe units are smooth due to the usage of smooth steel molds eliminatingthe need for finishing processes such as plastering, for example. ThenOr1-lOad supporting walls which consist of prefabricated lightweightunits serve to subdivide the cells into rooms of a house, for example,and are erected after completion of the basic cell structure. Due to thefact that the concrete framework is built to a measure intolerance offrom 2-3 millimeters (as a result of usage of the spacer members 10 andthe precision steel molds 14) the lightweight prefabricated sections canbe mounted without difiiculty after they have been brought into the cellstructure through the open gable ends. These construction techniquesavoid the need of providing carpentry, brick laying and paintingactivities at the job site. The ceilings and walls are so smooth thatthe finishing work is superfluous and the ceilings and walls of thebuilding upon completion have the advantage that they can be decoratedas by painting or wallpapering immediately.

Units produced by the above method described may be initially erectedwithout a plurality of dividing walls so that division as desired, ispossible within the outer walls of the unit. In addition, it is possiblethat after a few years of use the divisions of the individual units canbe altered since the lightweight wall members are removably mountedbetween the supporting structure of the monolithic walls, floors andceilings.

The regular cellular structure of the concrete framework insuresuniformity of the units to predetermined limits so that fullindustrialization of the entire process of building is possible.Considerable savings of work is obtained and it is only necessary to usea travelling crane for the moving, erection and filling of the molds. Aswas previously described, the travelling crane 51 is employed forpositioning the mold members 14. In FIG. 2, the prefabricated sections55 may be lowered into position between the concrete load-bearing wallsby the travelling crane 51. FIG. 2 shows a prefabricated section 55abeing lowered into position between walls 9e and 9 for example. FIG. 2further shows a prefabricated section 5511 which has already beenlowered into position and further in which a concrete floor 56 has beenformed thereupon. The non-load-bearing wall sections 56 may be acomposite laminated structure formed of two outer layers and a centerplastic filling. The plastic may preferably be expanded polystyreneWhile the outer layers may be plaster sheets which are not exposed tomoisture once the building facing has been completed. On the other hand,in the case where walls exposed to moisture must be provided for use inbath rooms and kitchens, for example, a suitable moisture resistantmaterial may be employed as the outer layers of the non-load-bearingwall structures.

The method of industrial building described hereinabove can be carriedout during the winter months as the casting of concrete is now madepossible at temperatures below the freezing point if special measuresare taken, which measures are conventional in the construction art andhave been omitted herein for purposes of simplicity. Thus, completion ofthe building may take place at such temperatures without any specialprecautions being taken on the job site.

The spacer elements 10 described hereinabove which are formed of precastconcrete, although requiring handling and transportation to and at thejob site, are nevertheless quite advantageous for use because they morethan compensate for savings in time due to the simplicity of use oncethe spacers are set within the floor of the building. This is due to thefact that there need be only an initial adjustment after whichconstruction can take place without interruption and without requiringadditional measurement efforts.

Although there has been described a preferred embodiment of this novelinvention, many variations and modifications will now be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, this invention is to be limited,not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appending claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of forming industrial building comprised of unitary buildingelements comprising the steps of:

forming in situ the floor of said building;

imbedding spacer elements at spaced intervals within said floor for bothlocating the spacing between load-bearing walls and determining thethickness of the load-bearing walls; forming load-bearing walls uponsaid floor which serve to define and separate individual cell-likeunits;

said load-bearing walls being formed by releasably attaching molds tosaid spacers to define spaces representing said walls;

positioning spacers at spaced intervals along the upper ends of saidmolds;

pouring concrete into the spaces defined by said molds to form saidwalls; and removing said wall forming molds;

forming integral prefabricated structures comprised of non-load-bearingpartitions for dividing each celllike unit in a predetermined fashion;

placing each prefabricated structure into an associated cell-like unit;forming a ceiling upon said prefabricated structures and which issupported by said load-bearing walls;

said ceiling being formed by releasably joining molds to the spacersimbedded in the upper ends of said walls to define said upper floor;pouring concrete into said molds; and removing said molds;

sealing the gable ends of each cell-like unit with prefabricated gablesections.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the steps of forming the load-bearingwalls and ceilings are each further composed of the steps of formingsaid load-bearing walls and ceilings from reenforced concrete in theform of a monolithic structure.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said monolithic structure is formed bythe method of providing smooth steel molds for defining each wall andfilling each of said molds with reenforced concrete.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said molds are spaced within toleranceswithin the range of two to three millimeters to facilitate placement ofsaid prefabricated structures and formation of said ceilings.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the steps of forming said prefabricatedstructures is further comprised of the steps of forming each non-loadbearing partition by providing first and second spaced outer layersdefining each partition and inserting a plastic material filling in theinterior space between said spaced outer layers.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein said step of inserting a filler iscomprised of filling said interior space with expanded polystyrene.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,038,986 9/1912 Stretch.3,145,504 8/1964 Dunnington 52309 3,315,426 4/1967 Rolland 52235 FOREIGNPATENTS 397,695 1933 Great Britain. 623,447 1949 Great Britain. Ad645,548 1955 France.

JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

